Treatment of textile fabrics



Feb. 7, 1933. K. s. LAURIE TREATMENT OF TEXTILE FABRICS Filed Jan. 5. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 In lllr \lll //v VEN TOR BY 7 MM QTTORNY" Feb.7, 1933. KI LA 1,896,588

TREATMENT OF TEXTILE FABRICS Filed Jan. 5, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Array/v05.

Feb. 7, 1933. K. s. LAURIE 1,896,588

TREATMENT OF TEXTILE FABRICS Filed Jan. 5, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 HM W MYVEN 70/? ATTOR/YEVJ Patented Feb. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KENNETH SOMERVILLE LAURIE, OF GLOSSOP, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO TOOTAL BROAD- HURST LEE COMPANY LIMITED, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, A BRITISH COMPANY TREATMENT OF TEXTILE FABRICS Application filed January 5, 1931, Serial No. 506,777, and in Great Britain January 16', 1930.

The present invention relates to an improved process and apparatus for the treatment of textile fabrics.

An object of the present invention is to reduce or avoid the tendency of certain woven (or knitted) fabrics to shrink in laundering.

Normally, in the progress of a fabric through the scouring, bleaching, dyeing and other finishing operations, cloth is pulled in the direction of its length. This results in an extension in length and a decrease in width. For the final operation of drying on a stenter the cloth is run on the machine under a slight warp tension and is held at the selvedges by pins or clips at spaced widths. By means of these clips or pins, the cloth is pulled out in width whilst it is held at a fixed length. It is dried in this condition. This pulling out in the weft while the warp is held puts a great tension'on the latter and the cloth comes off the machine in an unstable condition, such that it shrinks on subsequent laundering.

According to the present invention a length of textile woven or knitted piece goods is positively engaged whilst in a moist condition, at a number of spaced points along its length by a plurality of individual elements, such as pins, these spaced points of engagement,- that is to say, the spacing of the individual pins being evenly reduced to a shorter length, during, and also preferably immediately prior to a drying operation.

If desired, the lateral spacing of the points of engagement may be at the same time in creased.

By this means a fabric substantially less liable to shrink on subsequent laundering is obtained, in which the curvature or crinkle of the warp will be greater than that of the fabric before treatment whilstthe crinkle or curvature of the weft will, due to the moderate tension applied in the weft direction, be less than the crinkle or curvature of the weft prior to treatment but will nevertheless possess a considerable degree of crinkle or curvature.

In a preferred form of machine for carrying out the process of this invention, a number of individual pins are mounted so that each is capable of angular displacement relatively to its neighbour. The pins may be carried on chains or bands which are guided round a curved surface situated adjacent to the places of feed-on of the fabric, so that the pins engage the fabric at certain spaced distances, but as the chains come on to the straight this spacing will decrease in a definite ratio.

A clip chain of any type may be used to grip and drive the bands after the fabric has been engaged by the pins, and to maintain any desired width between the selvedges.

The invention is more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of part of one form of construction of machine.

Figure 2 is a detail view corresponding to Figure 1 on an enlarged scale.

Figure 3 is an inverted plan view of one of the pin clips.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the pin clip mounted on its carrier.

Figure 5 is a corresponding plan view.

Figure 6 is a side View of partof the stenter chain.

Figure 7 is an end sectional view.

Figure 8 is a corresponding plan view.

Cloth is fed through a drying or a conditioning machine or chamber by means of a conveyor consisting of a number of bars 1, each having a pin 2 upon it. These bars are threaded upon flexible hands 3. Where the endsof the bands 3 are joined, these are overlapped and notched at the side to engage projections 5 on plates 4, which plates are secured to the bars 1-by rivets 6.

The bars 1 have on the opposite side to the pins 2, a projection 7 adapted to be engaged by movable and fixed jaws 8, 9, respec tively, of stenter clips 10 mounted on conveyor chains 11. The movable jaw 8 is normally pressed by means of a torsion spring 12 against the fixed jaw 9, but can be moved away from it by means of a ramp rail 13, to allow engagement of these jaws with the bar 1 (Figure 1). Y

'A length of cloth indicated at 14, is fed on to the machine so that it is engaged by indimachine these folds will have wholl vidual pins 2 ata place where the endless chain consistingof the bars 1 and band 3 move over a curved surface, so that the said cloth is enga ed by the pins 2 at points which are spaced urther apart than the spacing of these adjacent pins 2 when the endless chain, of which they form part, comes on the straight part of its travel.

This curved surface may be adjustable as regards its curvature and for this purpose is formed of a chain 15 passing over a drum 16 and a cam rail 17 which may be graduated to cooperate with the pointer 20 to indicate the amount of curvature to which the machine is adjusted.

The drum' 16 and the cam rail 17 can be angularly adjusted about the axis 18 of the drum.

The cloth is securely-thrust down upon the pins 2 by means of a brush or by a felt or the like covered roller 19, which may ride on the cloth byits own weight. As the pin-bars 1 pass on to the straight part of their travel they are engaged by the clips 8, 9, and these clips in known manner may be drawn laterally out of the longitudinal path of travel to apply a moderate tension to the cloth in the direction of its weft, the cloth being free to contract unrestrictedly, or to a desired predetermined extent, in the direction of the warp as it lies in fine folds between neighbouring pins. The cloth is then subjected to drying treatment by hot air current, or any other desired known means.

The effect of this is to cause a positive shortening of the cloth in the direction of its length due to increase of crinkle in the warp threads consequent upon a partial reduction in crinkle of the weft threads.

The machine of this invention may also be used in cases where it is desiredto modify the width of a fabric relatively to its length with or without the application of heat and with or without the application of moisture.

This machine further may be useful in the case in which it is desired to accentuate a woven pattern or cords 1n plece goods by raising the warp-above the general level of the surface.

By suitable adjustments of the cam rail 17 the contraction of the warp can be controlled to any desired degree, that is to say, that whilst the fabric is taken up on the pins in the form of folds, towards the end of the disappeared, and the warp according to t e adjustment of the machine, will either be just free of tension, or will be under any desireddegree of'tension.

I declare that what I claim is 1. A stentering machine comprising an endless band, a plurality of pins each mounted on said band to be capable of angular movement relatively to each other, a guide plate of variable curvature supporting said band and means to feed a web of fabric to said pins, whilst the band is passing over said gulde plate.

2. A stentering machine comprising an endless band, a plurality of pins each mounted on said band to be capable of angular movement relatively to each other, a guide plate of variable curvature supporting said bandand means to feed a web of fabric to said pins, Whilst the band is passing over said guide plate, and means to displace said guide plate relatively to said supporting band to vary the curvature of said band.

3. A stentering machine comprising an endless band, a plurality of bars flexibly carried thereon, an individual pin on each bar, a guide plate of variable curvature supporting said band at one point, and means to feed a web of fabric on to said pins as the band passes over said guide plate.

- 4:. A stentering machine comprising an endless band, a plurality of bars flexibly carried thereon, an individual pin on each bar, a guide plate of variable curvature supporting said band at one point, means to feed a web of fabric on to said pins as the band passes over said guide plate, a plurality of clips travelling with said band, means to engage said clips with said bars and means to displace said clips laterally of said hands during their travel.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name this 15th day of December 1930.

KENNETH SOMERVILLE LAURIE. 

